As a future trend, more American jobs will automatically go to non-Americans and the chief reason for this will be due to the poor educational standards of their students.

Compared to India and China, the general standard of education among the American youth is low.

In a recent OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) study, 15-year-olds in the US are at the bottom of the heap of industrialized countries in math skills, ahead of only Portugal, Mexico.

The study further reveals that the percentage of top-achieving math students in the US is about half that of other industrialized nations and the chasm between whites and non-whites, who will automatically constitute the labour force in years to come is big.

The study also goes on to say that there aren't nearly as many bright kids in US schools as there are in other countries. This, in effect, means that days of US dominance in technology-related fields may be over, if the large number of Indian tech professionals in the United States is any indication.

With a huge number of American students barely able to do mathematics, the US also lacks the advantage of a generally well-educated population, which also can boost growth.

The entry of Indian, Chinese and Japanese folks, with a high degree of intelligence and greater skill set means that the Americans will have a tough time ahead.

Even as economists and experts opine that the non-American population will largely occupy the labour market, as skilled immigrant population is becoming an important feature of the social milieu.

With most US employers looking Indiaward for filling up high-tech vacancies jobs, the insecurity of losing out to jobs to foreigners is a natural feeling that persists among most Americans. While poor teaching is counted as one of the reasons for US' poor show in the study, there are many who agree that the general level of awareness among the youth is very low in these countries.

Moreover, with the standard of education in the US being comparatively poor, American corporates will have to look for a skilled workforce outside the US. This in effect is going to sound the death knell for the offshoring/outsourcing brouhaha.

With a skilled labour force missing at home, US businesses will not be left with an option but to automatically look toward outside labour to fill the gap. And in a situation born out of compulsion, many would not refrain from doling out high payments to the Indian professionals in the global market.

A recent survey by Gartner, the world's biggest high-tech forecasting firm, said that one out of 10 jobs in the US computer services and software industry could shift to lower-cost emerging markets like India or Russia by the end of 2004. The ones more likely to be affected by it are knowledge workers in the banking, healthcare and insurance sector.

Although the US universities have a high quality, compared to the rest of the world, the question that arises is not many American students are able to reach the university level, accompanied by falling grades.

That apart, another issue that looms large is whether the US is itself producing enough scientists. In a OECD study conducted 3 years back, US youngsters scored at the average in 2000 but eight points below it last year.